Shock-absorbing mechanism



J. F. O CONNOR. SHOCK ABSOBBING MECHANISIVI.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 30, I918.

Patented Feb. 28, 1922.

. clear, concise,

of the-compressive stroke. 7 providinga shock absorbing UNITED STATES PATENT.

OFFICE.

7 JOHN F! oconnon, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO WILLIAM H. MINER, OF

CHAZIY, NEW YORK.

snocx -ensonnms MECHANISM.

Application filed September so, 1918'.

ence being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates to improvements 'in shock absorbin mechanism;-

-1Heretofore', in t e art'of shock absorbing way draft gears, it has been customary {to provide a friction gear having apreliminary spring action for this character is, of course, to give a gradu+ ated-e asy action, particularly on passenger gequipment; spring action, all

heavy shocks v frict on action;

., Insome forms a preliminary f A s'econd expedient has been main springs to perform both By' employing a preliminary In providing for action above referred.'to,-- it has been cus-g ternary to employ one of three 'fe'xpedients.

spring has :been a used solid during the thereafter the "filCiHOn elements come into lay against the action offthe 'so-called eavier main. spring. With this arrangement,'the capacity obtained from the small 1 spring is quite small and insufli cient. for average conditions and also .the-

change from.

V the preliminary spring to the friction 1 action a smooth graduated action,f ;for the enti e stroke;-

to empty the .the work of Lthe'preliminary action andthe friction ac,-

tionn are so designed'that the main sp a I gear. .iscompressed forfa certa n redeters mined distance withoutactuation o the fI'lCe tion elements and thereafter the mainder of the compressive action of the Specification of Letters Patent.

and exact description, refer-v mechanisms and more; particularly in raila predetermined portion. The. object i of mechanism of ordinary small shocks Tare] readily absorbed without complete actuation; of the mechanism and unusual or excessive can be jtaken care' of in a final f mechanisms, a relatively small capacity independent preliminary" which is compressed preliminary action and.-

V1 of shockabsorbing' mechanisms in such a manner that an represents a comparatively. large sudden increase whichmilitatesagainst'. g

' inact ve portions qf the spring while at the P same time obtaining] a preliminary spring capacity ,ity of the spring being Another object offth'e With these arrangements,v the parts;

ring ofth j;

' glngs-wherein I obtain a v -action ,.1py using the alm springs of the friction .elementsare actuated so as" to take up the re Serial No. 256,171.

main spring. These arrangements present certain objections for the following reasons: he average capacity of standard springs.

employed in railway draft'gears is- 30,000 pounds, static, and the springs are given 2 or 2% 1nches ofcompression. It is evident 'that a spring having an ultimate static caof 30,000 pounds will only yield a portion of that ultimate capacity if the 'enpacity t ese' arrangements is likewise insuflicient and the change from spring to friction actlon'too abrupt as in the devices mentioned in theprecedmg parag e I third method heretoibre, used lnvolves the use of main springs formed. injindepehd entsections, each section being-made of the usual sizewire and. each section having the required ultimateYcapacit pounds. With this method ;v

g r the preliminary action .1 appl 'ledto one mde endent sec pacity obtaine t.ti'on,of the spring and thereguired 'p'reliminary spring sequent friction act1on,the other independent section of the s' 'rin "is brou ht 'into.

play and compressed. 'l he last discribed arrangement gives'th'e desired spring capacity and eliminates change from mere but-is nevertheless of the unnecessar active portions'o the springs.-

Injthe'subspring to a frictionaction open to objection because waste involved intlie in One object of my invention isto prodean arrangement for employing springs e i desired portion of the spring can; be ut 1 ized during a preliminary spring actlonwith a minimum loss in the equal to. the ultimate static capace'mployed 7 Patented Fame, 1922 of,- say, 30,000

prelimina'r the abrup t" invention is to pro-- to a vide a shock absorbing mechanism more particularly'adapted for railway draft rig.

mechanism intact," the preliminary; spring capacity'reaching' the capacity of the main preliminary spring serted laterally as indicated at 20-r20 in 'lized to resist final relative movement between the friction, elements and friction shell.

Other objects of the invention will more fully appear from the description hereinafter fOllOWJIlg.

In the drawings forming apart of th s specification, Figure 1 is a horizontal, longitudinal, sectional view of a portion of a railway draft rigging showing my improvements in connection therewith. F1g. 21s a vertical, longitudinal section of the shock absorbin mechanism proper illustrated in Fig. 1. nd Fig 3 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In said drawings 1010 denote channel shaped center or draft sills of a railway car to the inner faces of which are secured front stop lugs 11-11 and rear stop lug 12-12. The draw bar of the draft rigging indicated at 13 is operatively connected to the shock absorbing mechanism by any suitable means such as the yoke 14 and all the parts aresupported by a d tachable saddle plate 15. A front follower 16, is shown interposed between the draw bar and the shock absorbing mechanism proper.

The shock absorbing mechan1sm,as shown, comprises a spring casing A, a friction shell B, a series of friction shoes C-O, a wedge D, twin -arranged main springs E-E, and other details hereinafter specifically referred to.

The spring casing main springs in a well known manner. The casing A is formed at its rear end with an integral transverse wall 17 which, acts as the rear follower for the draft rigging. At its front end, the

adapting. the

cylindrical friction shell B. On each side of said central aperture, the casing A flanges 18-18, with which cooperate laterally eitended flanges 19-19 on the shell B to limit the outward movement of the shell with respect to the casing. The casing A is also cut away in its top and bottom walls,

Fig.2, to accommodate the rear edge portions of the shell B and permit the latter to move rearwardly with respect to the casing A until it engages with ,the shoulders 21-21 formed on the latter. As will be understood, the shell is assembled with the casing by slipping the shell vertically with respect to the casing as the parts are viewed in Fig.2. When in proper position, the shell is prevented from accidental disengagement with the casing A by an annular flange 22 formed on the forward side of-a spring follower 23 which well known. manner.

A is of generally recs. tangular formation with open sides thereby E-E-to'be in-, sions 27 may casing A is centrallyv apertured to accommodate the substantiallyis formed with vertically extending inturned.

is mounted within the casing and has the flange 22 thereof extending within the shell, as clearly illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

The friction shoes O are preferably three in number and arranged circularly in a The wedge D is extended within the shoes and anti-friction rollers 24 are preferably interposed between the wedge and the shoes. A light spring 25 is interposed between the shoes and the follower 23, there being a slight clearance left between the flange 22 of the follower and the shoes in order that the spring 25 may be effective to maintain all the friction elements in tight engagement with each other' and compensate for wear. To carry out this result, a retaining bolt 26 is used having its head detachably engaged with the follower 23 and a nut applied thereto within the wedge D. For practical "purposes, the clearance between the shoes and the flange 22 may be neglected in considering the compressive action of the gear. This clearance will be very small and in actual practice, merely sufficient to permit the spring 25 to perform its necessary function.

In order to carry out one of the objects of my invention, I employ a diaphragm designated generally by the reference F This diaphragm is in the form of a block extending between the twin springs E-E. The block is provided on each side thereof with extensions 27 interposed between and fitting springs tensions pitch of the coiled springs E. The exten be of any desired length circircumferentially but are preferably made slightly less than one-halfthe circumference.

of a coil of the spring, as shown most clearly in Flg. 3. Cooperable with the diaphragm F is a pair of thrust or pressure-transm1t-- ting bars 28-28 slidably mounted in corresponding grooves or guideways 29-29 in .the upper and lower walls of the casing A, as clearly indicated in Fig. 3. The thrust bars 28, at their outer ends, engage with the inner end of the shell Band said bars at their inner ends engage the diaphragm F, as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. On the interior of the casing A, suitable shoulders are formed at the'inner end thereof, as indicated at 30-30 with which the diaphragm F is adapted to contact as hereinafter exlained. The diaphragm .and springs are lnserted laterally when the diaphragm is so positioned on the springsthat it comes opposite the cross .channels 31-31 after which the sprin scan berotated to move the diaphragm t ereon.

The operation is as follows, assuming that the -mechanism is operated under buff and omitting consideration of the slight movements which will occur between the friction elements and the follower 23 to take up the space between the flange 22 and the friction shoes. As pressure is applied from the draw barthrough the follower 16 to the wedge of the friction device, the shell, friction shoes, wedge, spring 25 and follower 23 will move rearwardly as an entirety until the shell B en the casing During this preliminary movement theife will be no relative movement betweenthe device and the pressure from the shell B will be transmitted to the diaphragm. F through This pressure is then diaphragm F to the where the diaphragm engages the springs E and consequently only those portions of the springs E rearwardly of the diaphragm F will be compressed, it being evident that the portions of the springs E between the diaphragm F and the follower 23 will float idly without compression during the preliminary action. he preliminary action may be made of any desired extent which in ordinary practice will amount to approximately one inch. The diaphragm F will be so placed on the springs E that the portions compressed during the preliminary action will be compressed to their full extent or substantially solid. In actwal practice, the shell B will contact with the'casing A at the same time that the diaphragm ders 30 so as to avoid possible injury to the rear portions of the springs E which might result from over-compression. After the preliminary action above described, the shell B will, of course, remain stationary the thrust bars 28. applied through. the springs E at the points and further pressure will cause the friction shoes and wedge to move relatively to the shell B. This relative movement is resisted b the portions of the springs E which are forward of the diaphragm F and which have theretofore remained uncompressed.

e action under draft will be similar to that above described except, of course, the direction of movement of the various parts is reversed.

By adopting the arrangement albove described, it will be observed that I obtain a capacity during the preliminary action equal to the capacity of the springs E, that is, if each spring E has a static capacity of thirty thousand pounds, by my arrangement I will obtain a preliminary spring capacity of sixty thousand pounds since I compress to their full extent, those portions of the springs which are employed during the preliminary action. When the action of the mechanism changes from the prelimina spring to the friction, it is evident that there will be no abrupt jump in the capacity since the preliminary spring capacity approximately sixty thousan pounds. It

ages with the shoulders 21 of elements of the friction F engages the shoulhas reached will further Eenoted that with my arrangement, the diaphragm F can be adjusted within certain 'limits lengthwise of the springs E by merely rotating the latter, thereby adapting my improvements to mechanisms having preliminary movements of different degrees. Inthe event it is not desired to obtain a preliminary spring capacity equal to the full static capacity of the springs, the diaphragm'F can be shifted so as 'to bring a different length f the springs into action during the preliminary movement and allow those portions to be only partly compressed. The arrangement premits great flexibility without changing the constructionof any of the parts.

Although I have herein shown and described what I now consider the preferred manner of carrying out the invention, the same is merely illustrative and I contemplate all changes and modifications that come, within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

claim:

1. In a shock absorbing mechanism, the

combination with a friction shell and a plutween said shell and elements and disposed entirely to one side of said elements; and means for obtaining a preliminary spring action by utilization of a part only of the coils of said sprin 2. In a shock isorbing mechanism, the combination with a friction device including a friction shell and friction elements co'-. operable therewith, said elements being adapted for movement relatively .to the shell; of a spring; and means interposed between said device and a portion of said spring adapted to apply compressiveressure to apart only of said spring or a predetermined preliminary action when pressure is applied I of said spring being adapted to thereafter yieldingly reslst relative movement between Said shell and the elements of said friction evice.

-3. Ina railway draft rigging, the com-- bination with draft sills, stop act ng means, front and rear follower acting means, and a friction device including a frictionlshell and friction elements cooperable therewith; of a sprin inter osed between said device and one 0 said fdllower acting means and having one of its ends bearing against said follower acting means; of means for transmitting pressure from said friction device to a point intermediate the ends of said spring when pressure is applied to said device to move it relatively toward said follower acting means against which the sprin bears to thereby compress a part only 0 said rality of friction elements including a wedge to said device, the balance *spring while the friction device is moved as an entirety for a preliminary s ring action, the friction elements of sai friction device being thereafter movable relatively to the friction shell and resisted by the remaining portion of said spring,

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a spring, of a member a ainst which one apted to bear compressed, means for transmitting pressure in a direction toward said member, and

devices interposed between said means and an intermediate point on said spring an engaging the latter to thereby compress only that part of said spring between the point of application of the pressure thereto and said member.

5. In a device of the character described, the combination with a spring, of a member against which one end of said spring is adapted to bear while the spring is being compressed, means for transmitting pressure in a direction toward said member, and devices interposed between said means and an intermediate point on said spring and engfitging the latter to thereby compress only t at part of said spring between the point of application of the pressure thereto and said member, said device including an element adjustable lengthwise with respect to said spring to thereby vary the point of application of pressure thereon.

end of said spring iswhile the spring is being 6. In a device of the character described, the combination with twin arranged springs, of a member against which corresponding ends of said springs are adapted to bear while the springs are being compressed, means for transmittin pressure in a direction toward said mem er, a diaphra extending between said springs and aving contact with coils thereof, said diaphragm being adjustable lengthwise of said springs, and devices interposed between said means and said diaphragm for'transmitting pressure from said means through said diaphragm to said springs at points intermediate the endsthereof.

7. In a shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with a spring casing; of a friction shell movable for a predetermined distance relatively to said casing; friction elements cooperable with said shell; twin arranged springs within said casing and interposed between one end of the latter and the friction shell; a diaphragm extending between said. springs and located intermediate the ends thereof; and pressure-transmittingmeans interposed between said shell and said diaphragm adapted to move the latter in unison with said shell relatively to the casing.

In witness that I claim the fore oing I have hereunto subscribed my name this 18th day of Sept, 1918.

JOHN F. OCONNOR. 

